Repaint, ye thinners and thin no more!

The above title is penned from an old construction joke whereby a gentleman who was painting his house did not want to spend any more money than he had to. So, he decided to use paint thinner to help stretch things and make the couple gallons of paint that he happened to have on hand go as far as he possibly could.

When he started the job early in the morning the weather seemed to be rather nice and he got a fair amount of the outside walls painted. He was pleased with the way the front of the house was looking and the two sides. So, he moved to the back of the house and set up his scaffolding there. But, the weather seemed to change very rapidly. Before he knew it there was a torrential downpour! The man ran inside of the house and sought refuge from the storm.

After the storm cleared, the man went outside to smell the spring flowers. He often thought to himself that nothing smelled more lovely or quite as fresh as springtime after a good rain. As he turned his attention back to his house he was horrified at the sight! All of his labor was in vain. The paint had been completely washed away by the rain. The man in great sorrow fell to his knees, cried out to the Lord aloud, and said, “What did I do to deserve this? And, what am I going to do now?”
Not by any coincidence the Lord had led a traveling street evangelist to come along, who just happened to have a sever lisp who lovingly said, “Repent, ye thinner and thin no more!”

While the story above may not be true, several morals can be found hidden within. One of the things the story seems to illustrate so well is that side of our human nature that often wants to cut corners, hurry up and get things done as quickly as possible without much cost to us personally because we all have a problem at some time or another with the dread of having to use patience and the personal sacrifice that it demands from us.

Another thing that the story clearly illustrates is that anytime we resist putting forth a great effort, be willing to pay the cost of selflessness, and exercise the prudence of patience things will never turn out in a way that we be beneficial to our lives. The only way our lives can be blessed is when the Lord moves within our lives in a very personal way. And, the only way He can consistently do that is when we meet with Him on regular basis according to His terms: be willing to sacrifice personal time to study His Word, pray His Word into our lives, renew our mind to His Word, and be doers of His Word on a daily basis. All of that is going to require a lot of effort and a lot of patience on our part. But, if we do our part we will be blessed indeed because God is faithful to His promises.

Hear these words from a new perspective this day and be encouraged:

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40: 31

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am Thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41: 10

With Love and Prayers,

Matthew and Sarah Fish